Thursday, August 25, 2022

The Half-Trillion-Dollar Student-Loan Executive Coup

Biden Canceled Student Loans for 40 Million Borrowers

  • President Biden on Wednesday canceled student debt for some 40 million borrowers on no authority but his own
  • The government will cancel $10,000 for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year and $20,000 if they receive Pell grants
  • Mr. Biden is also extending loan forbearance for another four months even as unemployment among college grads is at a near record low 2%.
  • Biden is cutting undergrad payments to a mere 5% of discretionary income
  • This will mask the cost to taxpayers of the Administration's rolling loan write-off

Congress authorized none of Mr. Biden's loan relief and appropriated no funds for it.

  • Progressives say the Higher Education Act of 1965 lets the Education Secretary "compromise" (i.e., modify) student debt. But the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 sets very limited terms and strict procedures for such "contromise."
  • Even Biden said in December 2020 it was "pretty questionable" whether he had authority to cancel debt this way.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-half-trillion-dollar-student-loan-executive-coup-joe-biden-debt-forgiveness-white-house-11661378933 

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